Highly politicized educational reforms in New York City have seen special education become marginalized as a casualty of the accountability movement. There is a liminal space between "old" and "new" ways where special education administrators find themselves as they consider their roles and responsibilities in continuing to…

In this conceptual paper we discuss the value of doubt in teacher education for ourselves and, by implication, more broadly. We develop an argument for the value of doubt in teacher education that grows out of the recognition of the complexity of teaching. We interrogate meanings of doubt in this context and debate the value of doubt and…

If special education teacher evaluation systems are to meet their promise of improving practice for students with disabilities, they need to be designed in a way that promotes and rewards strong instructional practice. In 2010, the Idaho State Department of Education (SDE) partnered with researchers from Boise State University to develop a special…

This article offers a brief introduction to governmentality studies and the conceptual tools that it provides to help English educators recognise the ideas and practices that education policies mobilise to steer our professions towards particular values, norms and outcomes. After a short overview of governmentality, it offers a short discussion of…

In recent years, teacher education has been charged with reforming programs to better align curriculum, clinical practice, and accountability. The sense of urgency for reform has been heightened by competition from alternative routes to teaching that jump straight to practice, often criticized for foregoing essential knowledge and theory. This…

In this article, the authors examine the mathematics identity development of six Black male students over the course of a 4-year The Algebra Project Cohort Model (APCM) initiative. Mathematics identity here is defined as participation through interactions and positioning of self and others. Data collection included nearly 450 minutes of video…

This paper addresses several of the challenges facing today's system of higher education, and discusses the implications of these challenges for the athletic training profession. Among the major challenges are cost, accountability, access, and value of a higher education. The paper next focuses on several issues about which athletic training…

Drawing on theoretical and empirical research concerning the relationship between academic work and student learning, this article explores the following questions: What skills are required to execute the academic tasks teachers assign on a daily basis? How do teachers and administrators interpret the task demands represented in instructional…

This case discusses early work to implement the Common Core State Standards at a fictitious school in Florida. The case is designed to support students' efforts to use school accountability data for inquiry and to conceptualize change in schools where previous leaders' efforts were not successful. Shell Elementary is an exurban school that serves…

This paper draws on an initiative where we experienced being new, radical, and, from some viewpoints, dangerously progressive at Unitec--a Polytechnic/Institute of Technology in Aotearoa, New Zealand. The initiative was driven by a need to improve student experiences of interdisciplinary learning and teaching, and to develop a common semester for…

Educational accountability policies have led to a growth in the use of high-stakes examinations for a number of important educational decisions, including the evaluation of teacher effectiveness. As such, educators are under increasing pressure to raise student test performance. In an attempt to prepare students for a high-stakes exam, teachers…

This commentary on the article titled "Examining the Internal Structure Evidence for the Performance Assessment for California Teachers: A Validation Study of the Elementary Literacy Teaching Event for Tier 1 Teacher Licensure" provides an overview of Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT), its relationship to edTPA and…

As states move to implement the Common Core State Standards, key challenges remain. One is how to make sure a high school diploma acknowledges what students have achieved. Should states adopt a two tiered diploma, in which students who pass internationally aligned Common Core exams at a career- and college-ready level receive an…

This article explores the pivotal role of rumour in shaping primary school choice decisions for parents of children diagnosed with autism. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 22 mothers conducted in Sydney, Australia, this study points to the varied functions of grapevine knowledge about schools gleaned in diverse contexts, including early…

This paper presents results of a study on teachers' conceptions of assessment carried out on a sample of 493 teachers of Spanish as foreign language from all over the world. At the moment of data collection, the participants were members of an international online teacher community and were teaching at different professional contexts: basic…